The Breast Center at St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital is the first in Hillsborough County to feature the new ImageChecker Computer Aided Detection system from R2 Technology. CAD provides our radiologists with the newest advancements in medical imaging and assists in detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage by minimizing false-negative readings during mammogram screenings.

ImageChecker is the first FDA-approved Computer Aided Detection system for use in breast cancer screening. Studies indicate that the use of ImageChecker could result in earlier detection of up to 23.4 percent of cancers currently detected in women who had a prior mammogram screening nine to 24 months earlier.

The mammogram experience for the patient is unchanged. Once completed, the ImageChecker system digitizes the film and analyzes the image for regions suggestive of microcalcification clusters or masses using the system’s specialized processing software. Any suspicious areas are marked and displayed on a monitor for the radiologist to compare to the original mammogram. Based on the radiologist’s initial interpretation combined with the CAD-displayed results, the radiologist makes a recommendation on any necessary follow-up testing.

Please call (813) 872-3700 for more information on our new CAD services or to schedule a mammogram.